Two Lessons about the Spirit

This week was full of tender mercies. My favorite was last Saturday before lunch. Just to set the scene a little, we were going to have a baptism but in the morning the investigator called to cancel. We went and did everything we could but it didn't happen. My companion and I felt a little down, but we had an appointment with a couple of potential investigators, so we went over there. I had contacted the woman months ago with my old companion Elder Romero. The appointment had fallen through back then, and one day when we were passing by there with Elder Diaz, the moment when we contacted her came back to my mind and we knocked on the door and set an appointment. They turned out to be really impressed with the Church. They have a member-friend that they've always seen their good example and had always wanted to know a little more about the Church. It was a really great lesson.

I learned 2 things from this experience: that the Spirit often works in subtle ways. It's something that I "knew" before but it's really powerful when you actually live it. The other is the importance of being a witness of Christ always, everywhere. You never know who's watching you, but the Lord really can use all of us as tools to help His other children come back to the fold.

"By small and simple things are great things brought to pass." Alma 37:6 

I know that this Church is true and that the Lord Jesus Christ lives. I love this gospel! I love being a missionary! I know that if we read the Book of Mormon every day we'll be more spiritually protected. I know that the Pres. Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God.

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Elder Evan Smith

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Father's Day Dad!!! Hope it was a great day. I heard there was a Star Wars themed party. I liked all the pictures you guys sent! You all look happy. It's been a good week for me as well.

This week we had a mission leadership training meeting that was really awesome. Our Mission President has been focusing a lot in these last two weeks on referrals. There's an internet system that we receive referrals that our mission hasn't used very much before that he taught us about and we have been contacting the referrals like crazy. We found a person that has been waiting for the missionaries to come by for over a year. I felt so...impressed. I knew it was a miracle.

I feel like I have progressed a lot during my mission. Not just more mature or experienced, but my own testimony has grown a ton. I have never really understood before the immense importance of daily prayer and scripture study. I also understand more than ever the blessings of the temple and the importance of attending regularly. It's something we don't get to do so much as missionaries, but I think now I understand a little more how some members feel when the closest temple is hours and hours away and hardly can attend.

Thanks Dad for everything you've taught me and the example you always set for me. Love you tons!

Transfers...New Companion!

My last day with Elder Vidal

This week I had some powerful spiritual experiences. On Wednesday, Elder Christenson (Presidency of the Seventy) and Elder Godoy (President of the Area) came to visit our mission. They shared very good talks. One of my favorite points from what Elder Christenson said is how our daily scripture study can have effect in our lives. I understood that while many times we may feel that our study time is filled with goals to read x number of pages of the book of mormon or from preach my gospel, we need to remember that the fundamental principle of personal study is to connect ourselves with heaven and receive divine revelation, and this requires preparation. I hadn't thought of the importance of this before, but I now understand more the need to prepare for my studies.

This week Elder Vidal had transfers. It was sad to see him go, but he's an awesome missionary. My new companion is Elder Diaz! He's from Huaraz, Peru. On Thursday we had some crazy spiritual experiences back to back. We had like 3 appointments that we were going to that I was so certain we would teach, but every single one fell through. We exhausted our plan B's and plan C's, and even our plan d's. I felt a little confused, but a member family popped into my head. We knocked on their door but they weren't home. Then I remembered that their next door neighbors are less actives. The 20 year old son was home watching the Peru soccer game, but oddly he let us in and turned off the game to let us teach ( 😮  I thought this guy was crazy, nobody does that here...). We taught a short but powerful lesson. It was cool because he said he'd gone to church a lot as a kid and went to seminary and everything. He ran to pull out his book of mormon that had a book cover and everything was marked. Elder Diaz said something that inspired me as well.
He asked, "Did you have it planned out today that the elders were going to come by to visit you?"
"No."
"Well, the Lord did. That's why we're here, because the Lord needs you."

It was awesome. But that's not the end of it. Leaving that lesson, we were going to contact as we made our way to our next plans, and I recognized a family that we'd contacted months ago, that I thought were members less active. Turned out to be that the dad isn't a member yet and he was really excited to let us come back another day. While we were talking to them, a man came up to us and asked where the church was because he's a returned missionary from another part of peru but had just moved to the area. And, his family aren't members either. So we jotted all that information down. Walking another couple blocks there was a young woman in her 20s walking into her apartment that exclaimed from across the street, "Hey are you elders from the Huandoy ward?!" She turned out to be a less active member as well that had moved away years ago but had just moved back last week and also has family members that aren't members.

In short, I truly testify to you guys that the Lord really DOES put prepared people in our path. Sometimes they'll come to us, other times we'll be guided to them. But if we open our mouths we'll find the ones that the Lord is preparing to hear His gospel.

I love the mission so much!

Love you all a ton as well. Have a great week! :D

Elder Smith

The Huaman family, our pensionista (They're the best!)

Two future missionaries in the ward

Being Led to New Investigators

Elder Vidal and I after soccer

Last week we got a referral that we went to look for when our plans had fallen through. Turned out to be a "house" that was just brick walls with no door, and nothing inside. There was a little store a couple houses down with a man sitting down by himself at a table. It was strange because it was a cold night but he was in just a short sleeved shirt. I told myself that there has to be a reason why we're here so we went and talked to him. He was a really nice man who was receptive but was going to travel in a couple days. But he told us that his cousin had recently been operated on and had his leg amputated and would do well to hear our message, and he lived across the street. We went to find his cousin, but not only did we find him, but also his mom, his brother and his sister. They are the Chavarri family. It was a really spiritual lesson. They told us that they'd always wanted to know how they can find the "correct church" among all the different kinds of churches there are in the world. They especially were interested in knowing how the Book of Mormon compares with the Bible and what they can learn from it.

This week we also had another cool experience with a new investigator we found. His name is Enzo. He's a young adult that's studying engineering in the university, and we found him one day walking to our pensionista and he started talking to me in English. It was really fun because he loves practicing and well there aren't many english speakers here. When we taught him he was interested in knowing the difference between catholics and us, and we started explainin the restoration. When we taught about the principle of baptism, it was like it clicked with him that you have to repent before you get baptized, and that's why little children don't need baptism.

During the second lesson with Enzo, we were reading a little with him from the Book of Mormon, and we began to talk about the difficulties there are in the world but how we can overcome them. I said that despite all the challenges we might have, our Heavenly Father is perfect and has a plan for all of us. He asked me then how a perfect Father could create us as imperfect people, and my companion and I got wide eyes and started teaching about the creation, the fall and the atonement. Enzo's questions are honestly so good and it makes us also really reflect on these simple truths. I really felt my testimony strengthen as I taught these lessons. I know that when we strive to have the Spirit with us, it won't just be the investigator that is edified, but all of us will be edified by the Spirit, like D&C 50 says.

I love you all so much, and I hope you have a stellar week!!

Elder Evan Smith